The present invention relates to a support and guide structure for the windows of a motor vehicle body having at least one door with a substantially vertically movable window which is delimited by lateral edges and an upper edge.
Structures of this type are known by means of which the window is held in a position such as to locate its outer surface substantially flush with the outer surface of the upright and upper cross piece of the door from the purpose of reducing the aerodynamic resistance of the vehicle in motion.
Known structures of this type, which normally comprise a plurality of guide elements and seal elements of elongate form having a rather complex transverse section have various disadvantages.
First of all, such structures are not able to position the window in such a way as to obtain the condition that the outer surface thereof is rigorously coincident with the outer surface of the uprights and the door cross piece and therefore, for this reason, there are aerodynamic losses in correspondence with the door.
Moreover, the support elements of this structure are always disposed laterally with respect to the edges of the window, in such a way as to form a true and proper frame around the window itself; because of the form and dimensions of these support elements they are themselves a source of further aerodynamic losses.
Further, with such structures it is not possible to achieve continuity between the vertically movable window of a door and the fixed window of the door itself, which is contiguous to the first, nor with the fixed window disposed in the rear part of the motor vehicle body. In fact, between the said fixed window and movable window vertical uprights are present which cannot be masked and which therefore cause discontinuities which are also a source of further aerodynamic losses.
Finally, the known structures are structurally rather complex because of the form of the elements of which they are composed and therefore require particular care and precautions during their construction, and are rather expensive.